(ABC News)One week after a jury found George Zimmerman not guilty in the death of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin, people began to gather for rallies scheduled nationwide to press for federal civil rights charges against the former neighborhood watch leader.
The Florida case has become a flashpoint in separate but converging national debates over self-defense laws, guns, and race relations. Zimmerman, who successfully claimed self-defense, identifies as Hispanic. Martin was black.
The Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network organized the “Justice for Trayvon” rallies and vigils outside federal buildings in at least 101 cities: from New York and Los Angeles to Wichita, Kan., and Birmingham, Ala.
Sharpton wants the Justice Department to pursue a federal civil rights case against Zimmerman.
Great photos and videos, SG2. Thanks!
The ACLU doesn’t want AG Holder to bring federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman.
http://www.aclu.org/files/assets/aclu_letter_to_ag_holder_re_gzimmerman_case.pdf
Dear Attorney General Holder,
We are writing to clearly state the ACLU’s position on whether or not the Department of Justice (DOJ) should consider bringing federal civil rights or hate crimes charges as a result of the state court acquittal in the George Zimmerman case. Even though the Supreme Court permits a federal prosecution following a state prosecution, the ACLU believes the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Constitution protects someone from being prosecuted in another court for charges arising from the same transaction. A jury found Zimmerman not guilty, and that should be the end of the criminal case.
*******************
FUCK OFF, ACLU! Do you think we’re going to accept this injustice against an innocent kid and go about our merry way? GTFOOH!
DITTO! Where’s that lady in pink, SG2? We need it here.
Dear ACLU
This is perplexing in a scary way.
I don’t get it. Has the ACLU forgotten how the Feds came in to the Simi Valley verdict of the Rodney King case?
I honestly do not see where the ACLU is being helpful here. They talk about the need for the DOJ to prioritize “strengthened guidance to law enforcement on racial profiling and excessive force.” And also DOJ should “help provide training to the community to help end the pervasive practice of racial profiling.” Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious truths, ACLU, but pie-in-the-sky generalities for the future do not solve problems in dire need of an immediate solution.
George Zimmerman (and every other criminal) needs to feel the long arm of the law and if the DOJ can intervene after the state trial failed to deliver justice, then that is what needs to happen. Being charged at the federal level and the state level is not considered to be double jeopardy and there is no reason for the ACLU to redefine double jeopardy based on their own beliefs. Also, Trayvon Martin’s parents should file a civil lawsuit for wrongful death so that Zimmerman does not benefit monetarily for murdering their son.
The greatest deterrent to continued violence is sticking ass’s like Fogen in prison. Lets face it, it’s not exactly rocket science here.
Zimmerman got away with so much before, bragged about it and then got away with murder. It hurts to the soul. How could the jurors do it?
How did they do it ??
“Southern Hospitality” I guess.
Melissa Harris-Perry on President Obama’s Speech:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/46979745/vp/52529472#52529472
“Latinos protest against Zimmerman In L.A., say Trayvon Martin was wronged.”
Read more: http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/22850362/latinos-protest-against-zimmerman-in-la-say-trayvon-martin-was-wronged#ixzz2ZcmnP1DR
Follow us: @myfoxdc on Twitter | myfoxdc on Facebook
http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/22850362/latinos-protest-against-zimmerman-in-la-say-trayvon-martin-was-wronged#axzz2ZccLu4qn
There’s a photo above with Jay-Z and Beyonce. I’d like to hear them announce a boycott of Florida too.
Me too. I think it might be coming soon.
Me too! By the way, I’m back.
OK! How did it go?
Great! It was a small group, and so it was really important that I went. It was at one of the smaller federal buildings in our state. I enjoyed our conservation…..I met an AA lady and her two daughters. Her daughter is visiting from Callifornia where she teaches in a college in LA. (They had all lived there at one point.) Because I lived my first 30 years there, we had a lot to talk about. They knew the areas I had taught and I knew the areas they had live.
We had great discussions…..about the case, about the state the U.S. is in, etc.
In addition, something was said, and I commented something like, “Yeah, Whites do no realized all the benefits they have derived from White privilege. We ended up talking about that for about 10 minutes at which point their mother asked if I would speak at a gathering of her church group this fall about white privilege because her group needs to hear it from a white person. I accepted and we exchanged names, addresses, and phone numbers.
There was a reporter there who listened in at times during the two hours and interviewed some of us as well as having his photographer take some pictures. He asked for my name and hometown as he said he might be quoting me so we will see if it makes the newspaper.
Good stuff! Make sure to post here and share with us if he quotes you in the paper. Whoo Hoo!
OMG! That’s wonderful! Very inspiring!
YES!
It is good stuff and reminds us how just one step into an activity (a rally in this case)can lead to another step and even have the potential to snowball.
You got it. It’s very encouraging news!
By the way, SouthernGirl2,
I followed your advice when a passerby, a man about my age (63), came up to us saying “I just can’t understand why you people are doing this.” I kept still, but a lady about 50 who had, shall we say, a “boisterous” personality and engaged him. Well, the volume increased and he ranted some and after two minutes, started walking away.
That is when I did not follow your advice, :) and asked him if we could talk “over there” (about 15 feet from the group) because, I told him, he had some good questions and that I would like to listen to what he thought about the case. I will tell you more about that later. We talked calmly for about 15 minutes, and when I returned to the group, some of the ladies thought that seemed kind of surreal with some of them commenting, “How did you do that? I can’t believe you had such a quiet discussion over there for 15 minutes. I can believe he went from ranting to talking calmly like that with you.”
By the way, that man did not know that none of gz’s blood/DNA was on Trayvon’s hands.
I had asked him if he had seen the bloody photo of gz’s nose and mouth. He said that he had. I asked him why Trayvon had none of gz’s blood/dna on his hand if he had in fact put one hand on gz’s nose and one on his mouth. I also pointed out that if gz had been on his back, why hadn’t the blood on the back of his head been smeared instead of the distinct blood trails.
When he said that the witness said that gz was being punch MMA style and his head being slammed, I asked the man if he had heard that witness’s 911 call where he said that the two were wrestling. He said he had not. I told him that only in the first interview, W6 had said MMA style, but then retracted that and said it was only wrestling…..a tussle.
Long story short, he copied down the words “Axiom Amnesia” and look up the first two evidence dumps.
I did not get too far with the gun discussion.
I asked if he had kids. He said yes. I asked if he worried that she might be followed some night. He said no ………………………….because she carries a 9mm!
I think what kept the discussion calm is that I let him know that I was aware that we were just talking about this topic knowing that we would not be convincing the other. Anyway, at least he was going to go to Axiom Amnesia.
Martin’s Mother, Sharpton Speak in New York
I rolled my sleeves up……yes sir……
“…an unarmed innocent Trayvon Martin…..” Tell it Rev……..
When she said “…he wasn’t perfect…….but we loved him…” I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs “WE love him to this day and forever…..YOU are NOT alone !!!”
I concur!
Tracy Martin – Trayvon could have been anyone’s child
Hold my hand Tracy…….walk beside us and we will stop this violence.
Black Life Matters. Justice for Trayvon rally in Atlanta.
**cries**
For the love of God. Is this little boy crying? Breaks my heart.
It’s NOT a Palin Klan rally, so the Po Po will try and fudge the numbes.
Don’t shoot my son.
Now this here sign is the TRUTH.
We plan on being in DC next month for that rally. We need to get the message across that “We Are In This Together” no matter the race. I will not pretend to know what any minority has been through as a group or individuals other than to say I’ve seen it and abhor it.
I can say as humans we need to Close the Chasm…..
Inner City Blues(Make Me Wanna Holler)
Make me wanna holler
The way they do my life….
‘If I had a son he’d look like Trayvon’—Justice For Trayvon rally in Miami
President Obama speaks up for Trayvon Martin
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/07/19/president-obama-speaks-up-for-trayvon-martin/?hpid=z2
President Obama’s unannounced entry into the White House Briefing Room took reporters by surprise. But what he had to say took the nation by surprise. In his first public remarks since his written statement after George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the killing of Trayvon Martin, Obama gave voice to the frustration and fear that has gripped the African American community. And he did it in the most personal terms we have seen to date.
What is so significant is that the president spoke up for Trayvon. After a trial that seemed to put Trayvon on trial for his own death and a verdict that freed people to smear all young black men for the actions of a few, Obama’s nearly 20-minute oration restored Trayvon’s dignity.
The unarmed 17-year-old was doing nothing wrong or illegal when he piqued Zimmerman’s suspicions in the early evening of Feb. 26, 2012. The president made the circumstances surrounding his death the focus of his remarks. And he expressed unflinching sympathy for Trayvon’s parents and the Martin family.
Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman: The starker the injustice, the more it is denied
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/trayvon-martin-and-george-zimmerman-the-starker-the-injustice-the-more-it-is-denied-8721015.html
I first read about Trayvon Martin on Facebook. My cousin who is a young black American man, a few years older than Martin posted a local news story about this other young black American man who had been shot, and the family’s campaign to have the perpetrator arrested. I had recently moved back to London after a period living in Los Angeles and my first thought was “Thank God, that would never happen here.” And then I remembered Stephen Lawrence. And Azelle Rodney. And Mark Duggan. And Smiley Culture.
Don’t worry, you don’t need an African-American cousin of your own to abhor the abstract notion of racism. To determine a person’s value based on their skin is obviously absurd, isn’t it? I believe the vast majority of us, up to and including some members of the KKK, would all prefer to think we lived in a post-racial world where equal justice is available to all. The key distinction here is not between the racists and the non-racists. It is between those who have the luxury to indulge their denial, and those who do not.
On the day George Zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin, young black men of all classes, professions and character were forcefully disabused of the luxury of denial. They were reminded, once again, that it doesn’t matter if they walk fast or slow, fight back or run, if they are guilty of a crime or not, in the eyes of the law they can be shot down in the street and no one will be held accountable.
50 years apart and our justice system is still flawed
The Justice System is still FUCKED UP.
Trayvon Martin rally in Tampa
My wife, son and I plan on being there. Maybe anyone here that plans on going can exchange contact info on private chat and we can get together.
Crowd in front of NO Federal Courthouse continues to grow in Justice for Trayvon Martin rally.
Beyonce, Jay-Z & Thousands Gather For Justice For Trayvon 100 City Vigil
http://globalgrind.com/news/justice-trayvon-100-city-vigil-jay-z-beyonce-tracy-martin-sybrina-fulton-photo-video
It’s been a tough week for everyone after watching George Zimmerman, the man who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, be found not guilty of murder and manslaughter, but it’s been the toughest on his parents.
Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, both parents of Trayvon, are still fighting for the justice of their son as they led protests in New York City and Miami earlier today.
Just moments ago Beyonce and Jay-Z showed up to the protests which is taking place outside of federal buildings and police headquarters, planned out by Reverend Al Sharpton.
Sharpton and Sybrina shall lead the protests in NYC together, while Tracy will lead the one down in Miami for his son.
Trayvon Martin rally in Philly
Sybrina Fulton arrives with Al Sharpton at his headquarters in Harlem
Sybrina Fulton and Rev Al in Harlem at the “House of Justice” NAN’s Harlem headquarters before heading to the NYC 100 City Trayvon vigil
A Week After Zimmerman Acquittal, Protest Rallies Planned
http://n.pr/1bziVsG
The Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network says it has organized rallies and vigils in 100 cities across the country to press for civil rights charges against George Zimmerman after he was acquitted in last year’s fatal shooting of black teen Trayvon Martin.
A week after a Florida jury found Zimmerman not guilty, accepting his claim of self-defense, Sharpton’s National Action Network called for the “Justice for Trayvon” vigils.
CNN showed video of one rally in Miami that appeared to have attracted dozens of people.
Trayvon Martin supporters to gather in downtown Orlando
http://thesent.nl/199HPyr
Hundreds of people are expected to gather at federal buildings in over 100 cities across the country to press the Department of Justice to investigate civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
The National Action Network, a civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, organized the event to call on communities to pray for justice. Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, is participating in New York with Sharpton.
In Orlando, supporters will meet at noon in front of the George C. Young Federal Building and Courthouse on North Division Avenue and West Central Boulevard.
Organizers are asking youth to bring a bag of Skittles and wear hoodies.
According to the NAN website, eight cities in Florida are holding demonstrations including Fort Pierce, Fort Myers, Gainesville, Jacksonville and Miami – where Trayvon’s father, Tracy Martin, will join the crowds expected to gather at the U.S. federal courthouse.